28 April 2008

Humble Handspun

  

 

Pattern: My "Lifestyle Hats" method, top down.
My variation: When increasing 8 stitches, every other row, I paired increases so they were 4 sets of two increases each, making a square top. When the square measured about my head circumference, I quit increasing, went to a seed stitch, and knit until it was the length I wanted. I finished the hat with stocking stitch (stockinette) so it make a curl. Then bound off loosely.

This was yarn I spun, mixing two colors: a dull brown and a gold. The result is a nice enough hat, but I would not give this hat an A+. 

Confession. I have tens of thousands of yards of fantastic fiber in my studio. But, when I go to make a project, for some ridiculous reason, I feel compelled to use the crappiest of the stash. I'm from the dumb old school of "save the best for last'. The only way to fix me is to get rid of less-than-great fiber so the only choice I have is the good stuff. Enough arm-chair psychology.

The roving was acquired, if you can believe it, from a used book store. I purchased a book on spinning, and the bookstore owner asked me if I knew something about spinning and would I help him figure out what to price some misc. fiber. Of course, I helped him price it, then I bought the whole bundle of roving (mostly undyed, but bits and pieces of dyed roving.) The hat above is from some of that roving. I have no idea what it is or how old it is. I do know that it had NO spring, at all. Completely lifeless. But, due to my "save the best for last" illness, I dutifully spun it up. Alas. On to better fiber.

Mobieus Angora Ring: Easy Scarf

Angora Mobieus Smoke Ring, sorta 

 


Used Cat Bordhi's DIY pattern, modified by making a “good” mistake. I cast on then increased using yarn overs, then knit the pattern.

The end result is a slightly more lacey “ring” rather than cowl. I love it.

What did I do?

I cast on per the pattern. Then I mis-read, and started on the "lace edging", doing this:

Lace edging:
Round 1: *[Yo, k1] 2 times, [yo, k2tog] 3 times. Repeat from * to end of round.
Round 2: Knit.

Then, I realized I had an error, but I was damned if I was going to rip a Mobieus out. So, I went forward with the simple diagonal pattern:
Begin diagonal lace pattern:
*Yo, k6, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of round.
Knit one round.
Repeat last two rounds 10 more times.
  

Then, because I had but one skein of expensive 100% angora, I ran out of yarn. Not to worry. I knit the garter edge in black angora yarn. And, really, really, even if I had had enough yarn, I would probably have elected to do a black border.

I am not a huge fan of mobieus garments, but in this case, it's a winner. The way you knit a Cat Bordi mobieus is to actually knit it, rather than knit a rectangle and do a half twist, then join it. As a result, you knit one round, and you've knit in two directions - half knit side, half purl side. (You have to see it to believe it, and even then, you may not believe it.) For this scarf, this enables you to fold the circle in half and still have knit side facing. This was such a fast knit, I want to make more, more, more.
 

27 April 2008

Got on the bandwagon

Like 2644 others before me (on Ravelry), I jumped on the bandwagon and knit "My So Called Scarf"  by Allison Isaacs with the only 2 skeins of Malabrigo in my stash.


I suspect that this single ply yarn will work well as a scarf, but never as a sweater (unless pilling is a design feature.)

That said, it is soft, soft, soft.

26 April 2008

Spring, Photos soon, and Music for now.

I know I' ve been quiet, and I'm about to rectify this immediately. I'm photographing work today.

In the meantime, I've been working on music a bit. (I am a jazz singer too.)

Have a listen: click the arrow twice, then hover over a title and click it to listen to the full preview. Note: if you are not using Internet Explorer, the little red player below may not show up.

If you like what you hear, click here to view my page and go add some tags and comments. Thanks!

 
   

 

07 April 2008

Well, maybe just one more....




Note: this video is silent. There's nothing wrong with your computer.

Need to know more? Check out the pocket wheel site:
http://gnoam.com/pocketwheels.html

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